Two-Stroke Penalties and Unusual Aces

There have been several notable holes-in-one recorded lately, but we'll start with a fairly "routine" one (if an ace can ever be considered routine) because of what it followed. And what it followed was this, Saturday at the BMW Championship:

(Bart) Bryant had golf fans scratching their heads when he was penalised two shots after playing partner Martin Laird tapped down his own pitch mark on the fringe of the par-three 16th green during second round play.

By doing so Laird improved Bryant’s line from the rough, resulting in a two-shot penalty to Bryant for allowing his line to be improved.

Bryant realised later that a rule might have been broken and on the next hole sought out an official for clarification.

Bryant was informed that it was a 2-stroke penalty on him for allowing his line to be improved. Laird simply made a mistake that cost his fellow-competitor two strokes, and was not himself penalized.

But Bryant, who started the round on the back nine, got those strokes back when he later aced the No. 3 hole.

Elsewhere in the world of aces:

• In Belleville, Ill., a 5-year-old scored a hole-in-one. Drew Gray aced a 75-yarder on a par-3 course.
• On Thursday, four golfers made aces in the first round of the Nationwide Tour Utah Championship, a single-round record for that tour. The four golfers are Peter Tomasulo, Chris Stroud, Brian Stuard and Jonathan Fricke.

FAQ: What are the odds of making a hole-in-one?